FOOTBALL4GOOD MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2019

“ONE OF SOCCER’S MOST POWERFUL QUALITIES IS HOW PRESENT YOU ARE WHEN YOU PLAY IT. IT IS REALLY HARD TO HAVE YOUR MIND WANDER IN A GAME; IF YOU ARE IN IT, YOU ARE IN IT. BEING FULLY PRESENT WITH OTHER PEOPLE CREATES THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO SEE PEOPLE FOR WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT YOU HAVE IN COMMON, RATHER THAN LABEL THEM AS THE ‘OTHER’,” SAYS SOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS CO-FOUNDER MARY MCVEIGH CONNOR. FOR THE PAST 13 YEARS, THE ORGANISATION HAS BEEN PROVIDING YOUNG PEOPLE WHO LACK OPPORTUNITIES AS A RESULT OF SUCH LABELS AND THE CHANCE CIRCUMSTANCES THEY WERE BORN INTO, WITH RIPE GROUND WHERE THEY CAN FLOURISH. THAT GROUND IS THE FOOTBALL PITCH. KICKSTARTERS, THE FOUNDING STORY OF SOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS BY NADIA CONVERY